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ABSTRACT: Pass rates in community college entry-level math courses are a national crisis. The current study adapted a utility-value intervention from Hulleman and Harackiewicz (2009) to facilitate student success in community college math. In a double-blind experimental study (n = 180), we found a significant effect of the intervention on student pass rates. Further analysis revealed the intervention primarily improved men's passing rates by 13% (d = .54) but did not affect women's (d=-.15). The current study demonstrates that the utility-value intervention can boost community college math outcomes. Intervention fidelity, practice, theory, and study limitations are discussed.
Students' performance in their courses can drastically impact academic success, especially when students fail classes early in their academic careers (Silva & White, 2013). This crisis is highlighted in developmental math classes, including intermediate algebra (the focus of the current study), a course students may take and fail numerous times (Bryk, Gomez, Grunow, & LeMahieu, 2015). At an individual and societallevel, an inability to effectively train students inbasicmathhas consequences for most jobs today (National Science Board,2006). One solution proposed to address this problem is to move beyond traditional instruction and target major drivers of academic failure (Bryk et al., 2015).
A growing body of research suggests that student success can be facilitated through psychological interventions (Łazowski & Hulleman, 2016; Rosenzweig & Wigfield, 2016; Yeager & Walton, 2011). The current study focuses on one such intervention based on perceptions of value. When students believe what they are learning is useful, they are more likely to be interested in the topic and successful in class (Hulleman, Durik, Schweigert, & Harackiewicz, 2008). When students' perceptions ofvalue are increased via self-reflection activities, their interest and performance increase (Harackiewicz, Canning, Tibbetts, Priniski, & Hyde, 2015; Hulleman & Harackiewicz, 2009), a finding that is strongest for low achieving students (Hulleman, Godes, Hendricks, & Harackiewicz, 2010; Hulleman, Kosovich, Barron, & Daniel, 2017). Although value-related motivation interventions have not been studied in math courses, they hold great potential for helping struggling students.
Developmental Mathematics in Community College
Over the past few decades, studies about the impact of enrollment in developmental education on student success have attracted the attention of researchers and policymakers (Melguizo, Rosiewicz, Prather, & Bos, 2014). Thus far, the research shows that about...